Contactless pay as you go will become available for customers to use at 21 more Southern (including Ashtead), Thameslink and Great Northern stations from 14 December. See details on Southern here. 

This will see customers from 11 Southern stations, seven Great Northern stations and three Thameslink stations be able to pay for their train travel by just tapping their contactless bank card for the first time.

Announced by the Department for Transport this morning, this change is being made as part of the Department’s plan to simplify rail fares and make it more convenient for people to travel by train. At the same time, Contactless pay as you go will be rolled out to 29 other stations in the South East, including Stansted Airport.

To prepare for the extension of Contactless pay as you go on the 14th of December, a TfL-style fare structure will be introduced at these stations for journeys to other stations in the Contactless and Oyster Area the week before, on 7 December.

You can find the Government's announcement of the changes here.